1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a data accessing method and apparatus, and more particularly to a data accessing method and apparatus for accessing a first-in first-out (FIFO) buffer compatible with mini-low voltage differential signal (mini-LVDS) transmission interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the technological age which changes with each passing day, one of the tendencies of monitor development is to raise the monitor resolution. Nowadays, data transmission interface, such as mini-low voltage differential signal (mini-LVDS) has been developed to meet the aggregate bandwidth requirement when the resolution of the monitor goes higher.
Mini-LVDS is a high-speed serial transmission interface, which supports data output configurations with 3, 4, 5, or 6 output channels to simultaneously output data stored in 3, 4, 5, or 6 memory blocks and supports a data input configuration with 3 input channels. Conventionally, a buffer with adjustable memory step size of 3, 4, 5 or 6 memory blocks is applied in mini-LVDS interface. In other words, after a read operation performed according to a present address, the address pointed to by the read pointer is changed by a step, the size of which is adjustable from 3 to 6 memory blocks. Therefore, the buffer is capable of flexibly supporting the data output configurations with 3 to 6 output channels.
Conventionally, the amount of memory blocks of the buffer is set to the least common multiple (LCM) of the possible step sizes of the read and the write pointers, that is, the LCM of the numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6. Therefore, the amount of memory blocks of the buffer is divisible by the step sizes of 3 to 6. In other words, the amount of memory blocks of the buffer is at least, a multiple of 60, which is the LCM of 3, 4, 5, and 6. However, the cost of the conventional buffer is raised due to the amount of memory blocks of the buffer. Thus, how to reduce the amount of memory blocks of the buffer applied in the mini-LVDS interface is one of the efforts the industries are making.